Southeast Asia's second largest economy expects 180,000 Chinese tourists during Golden Week

The number of Chinese arrivals during this period should see a 30% increase from the daily average of 18,000 visitors recorded since the beginning of this year, Bangkok Post reported, quoting Thapanee Kiatphaibool, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Flight capacity between Thailand and China has improved by 70% year-on-year, further boosting the tourism outlook, Kiatphaibool said.

During China's one of biggest holidays where millions of Chinese tourists flock to travel abroad, Thai tourism authorities hoped to earn revenues of 5.1 billion baht (US$157 million), up from 2.3 billion baht recorded last year.

Data from online travel platform Agoda highlighted that Bangkok is among the top five international destinations for Chinese tourists during the holiday.

As Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, Thailand aims to attract 8 million Chinese tourists this year and has already welcomed 4.55 million, buoyed by its mutual visa-free policy.

Before the pandemic in 2019, Thailand, whose economy heavily reliant on tourism, set a record with 39.9 million foreign visitors, generating 1.91 trillion baht (US$51.9 billion) in revenue.